Diana (1840 ship) explained

Diana was a whaling ship built in 1840, in Bremen, Germany. She sailed out of Hull, England. In 1858 a steam engine was installed, making her the first steam-powered whaler to sail from Hull (Tay from Dundee was the first ever, a year earlier). Records held in Kingston upon Hull, claimed that the steam engine was installed in Diana in 1857, and, according to Dundee websites, in Tay in 1859.

Trapped in the ice

In 1866, while on a whaling expedition in Baffin Bay, Diana became frozen in the ice, where it was trapped for over six months. The ship's captain, 64-year-old^[1] John Gravill, and many of the crew died. The diary of the ship's doctor, Charles Edward Smith, was published in the book From the Deep of the Sea. . After the death of the Gravill, the ice-master George Clarke takes command of the ship and William Lofley navigates the Diana to Lerwick.^[2] There is a memorial fountain to Dianas return from the ice in the town of Lerwick in the Shetland Islands, as many of the crew originated from the islands and all the deceased except the captain were buried there.^[3] Charles Smith's services and heroism were recognised by the award of a set of surgical instruments from the Board of Trade.^[4] Captain Gravill's body was taken back to Hull, and his funeral was attended by an estimated fifteen thousand people.^[5]

Fate

On 20 October 1869, while making her way back from the Davis Strait, Diana encountered a strong gale, and was washed into the Donna Nook sands, on the Lincolnshire coast, and broke up. Her crew were rescued by the lifeboat North Briton.^[6] Diana was the last whaling ship from the port of Hull.^[7] Her loss ended the whaling industry of the city.

Captains

This is a partial list of Captains of Diana:

• John Gravill Sr. (1856–57, 1861, 1865-1867 [died on board])
• George Clarke (14 February 1867 – 16 April 1867) (Elected Captain after the death of John Graville whilst the ship beset in the ice)^[8]
• John Gravill Jr. (1858–60)
• William Wells (1863)
• Robert Day (16 April 1867-Loss)^[9]

See also

• Whaling in the United Kingdom

External links

• • Hullwebs History of Hull

Notes and References

1. Web site: Memorial: M627, Spring Bank Cemetery, Kington-upon-Hull, England. Graville.co.uk. 31 October 2021.
2. In 1880, William Lofley joins Benjamin Leigh Smith as ice-master on the Eira and is later trapped in Franz Josef Land for another winter when the Eira is pinched in the ice and sinks.
3. News: Pottinger. James A. The Voyage of the Diana. 16 December 2014. Shetland Life. The Shetland Times Ltd. April 2000.
4. From the Deep of the Sea, Naval Institute Press (1977), page 271.
5. From the Deep of the Sea, Naval Institute Press (1977), page 272.
6. Ship News . 21 October 1869 . 9 . 26574 . B .
7. The Late Gales . 22 October 1869 . 10 . 26575 . C .
8. From the Deep of the Sea, Naval Institute Press (1977), page 187.
9. From the Deep of the Sea, Naval Institute Press (1977), page 268.